At the Pool (Nymph at the Pool)

Clark Hobart

Clark Hobart was part of a group of California printmakers who were working in monotype in the early 20th century and, with Xavier Martinez, exhibited them at the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition in 1915. He won a Silver Medal for his 12 monotypes.

In this monotype of a nude woman standing beside a pond, Clark has broken away from his usual bright, spring palette. In order to emphasize a kind of hushed solitude, he’s chosen deep, autumnal colors ranging from rust red of the hillside in the distance, to the hunter green and dark brown of the pine boughs above her head, to the blue-black of the shadows on the ground at the figure’s feet: all conspire to present her as a glowing, mythical creature, appearing nearly ephemeral in her dark surroundings.

"Nymph at the Pool" was the first of the dozen monotypes exhibited in the PPIE and is listed in tha catalog on page 208, number 813. Hobart discussed his printmaking: "A 'monotype' is perhaps the most severe test of and artist's creative skill. It is painted on copper in oil & while damp is transferred by means of a (clothes) wringer to the paper, which is its final form. The composition is conceived & painted without the change of a a single stroke in the limited time to make possible the transfer to the paper. Should a stroke be added on top of the first stroke it would be covered by the first stroke in the transfer."